


Untainted Soul

by MarieLamb_B



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, At least is not a searcher, But makes him vulnerable to ink creatures as they can touch him, Character Death, Helps him to grip things, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, New Au, No time loops involved, Tag Warnings!, Tags Contain Spoilers, The ink demonth, The ink is quite solid, This doesn't start too well right away..., he's a ghost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 13:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19813378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarieLamb_B/pseuds/MarieLamb_B
Summary: Ever wondered why Henry can't be seen through the mirrors around? Nor why he has no shadow? Is Henry even a person, a flesh and bone creature at least?What is Henry?Who am I?





	Untainted Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! This is another of those AUs that I kept in store and that the Ink DeMonth made a perfect chance to start posting!
> 
> And yeah, being a former Phan myself, the thing with ghost and stuffs alike were ~~(and still are)~~ a big thing on me.
> 
> And yeah, the summary actually sums it all up: Why Henry can't be seen? And even more now that the new protag in BATDR actually _CAN_ be seen!!!
> 
> But no more blabbering.
> 
> ENJOY!!

It only took a wrong step.

Henry Stein did return to the old workshop as his old friend requested, finding a strange device and an even stranger puzzle that involved its way to turn it on.

Maybe he should have followed his first instincts and have left as soon as he saw the rooting wooden halls, the mysterious appearance of his little cartoon’s cardboards cutouts around hall he passed by and certainly _weren’t_ there before, and the vivisected body of his another cartoon character laid and tied in a slab.

But for some reason, he didn’t. And now that he quite probably saw what Joey wanted to show him– a mangled monstrous version of his beloved dancing demon that pretty sure tried to slice his throat with those absolutely out-of-character claws– Henry tried to escape the torn building, waddling through the raining ink as fast as he could, avoiding the falling debris and launching himself towards the entrance.

But that sole step– with extra-strength so he would be able to eject himself to the door, plus the extra weight from the flooding ink and the already deplorable state of the building– was all it took for the floor to give in and break underneath his feet, revealing a chasm that shouldn’t be there in first place.

And so he fell. And as quickly as he felt the world skipping a beat as there was no surface where he could stand, he stopped, forcefully landed; and everything turned black.

How long had he stayed unconscious, face laying down in a floor right under a cascade of ink and steadily growing and covering him more and more, was something he couldn’t recall by any chance. The sole thing he knew when he gained conscience back was that he needed a mouthful of air, taking it as a deep and tight gasp, trying to expand lungs that... weird enough weren’t clogged with ink, therefore not needing such amount of air to recuperate. But that didn’t deter his panicked mind.

In a clumsy move, walking over the flooding ink, he made his way to the only thing he thought would help: a valve. He grasped the wheel tightly, trying to turn it, but looked like might be stuck with years of rust, as it didn’t move a single millimeter. No matter the way he tried to spin it with all his might, even his grasp seemed to fail; too slippery, he thought, with hands soaked in ink.

Henry looked around the room, in hopes to find something– _anything_ that could help him turn the wheel. But the only thing he could observe was the alarming rise of the ink level in the floor and the cascade that kept dripping over a lumpy pile of debris from where he fell.

The ink level was reaching the desks around and was close to reach the third stand of the shelf over there. At this speed it’d soon reach over his waist. So he crunched, trying to gather all his strength in spinning that valve, but with no avail.

He kept trying and trying, panic rising as the ink pool beneath him. _He needed to get out!_ But every bit of panicked determination came to a halt when he felt a loud stomp that even waved the pooling ink, making him to loose balance and grasp the pipe in hopes to retain his stand.

He could feel it; a loud and fast beat hammering that nearly deafened him with pure terror. _Don’t look back_ , his instincts shouted aloud, but not like he heard it before.

Ever so slowly, holding his breath, he turned his head, only to find the very same creature, mimic of his beloved dancing demon, from the boarded ink machine room. It was crunched, its back facing him, and seemed to be shaking something as it... whined? Not like his frightened racing mind could process it clearly, but a peak of curiosity poked his mind.

Keeping himself as still as a trunk was his main task despite the fear devouring him from inside, as the creature very slowly stood up, seeming to hold something in its arms. Its head turned aside; its grimace a stark contrast to the perma-smile that painfully appeared in every Bendy memorabilia. Was it scorning? Frowning? Mourning? Could a creature like that even feel any of those ways? Its lowered head should have been a sign also.

Although what should have made his blood run cold wasn’t the creature itself, but what he saw it picked up as his whole body turned to the wall next to it. A head lolling, a head of a man; of a man that didn’t respond to the creature attempts to wake him up. Of a man that seemed being soaked in ink and not presenting any signs of proper life. Of a man that just a moment ago, be it minutes or even hours, fell from the chasm that connected that floor with the main entrance.

_No, no, no, no, no no no no no no nonononononononoNONONONONONONONONO..._

How is it– He was– But there–

_HE WAS STANDING RIGHT THERE, GODDAMIT!_

A whole new different reason, but panic still might have been fueling his acts all that time, but now Henry couldn’t even tell if the adrenaline rush was really hitting him.

_How was it even possible?!_

He looked at his hands, all soaked in ink. But as he shook it off of him the best he could, then he saw them– or more like he didn’t, as they were just a blurry silhouette, able to look through them.

_This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. This Isn’t Happening. ThisIsn’tHappeningThisIsn’tHappeningThisIsn’tHappeningTHISISN’THAPENINGTHISISN’THAPENINGTHISISN’T!!!_

He patted himself around; he could feel himself! But looking at himself and around, he also ended up noticing how the valve he tried to twist was lower than before, much about his waist level; but actually was _he_ the one above it, standing in the ink as if it were solid ground. The liquid didn’t even rip as much than a wave that would be made by a fallen leaf as he moved around and over it; the falling drips from above disturbed the dark pool even more.

_What is going on?!_

But any racing thought in his mind came to a stop when a new wave made him loose balance once again, and as Henry recomposed he saw the ink creature started to move, cradling his inert body as it headed towards a slithering shade on the wall.

He froze, unable to do or say something, although was unknown to him if it was by sheer shock or straightly to a current lack of physical voice.

Was it... leaving? He kept watching as the grimacing creature limped its way to that shadow, putting a leg inside, then the other, and finally all its body with his still in its arms.

_Wait, no! don’t leave. Don’t take him!_

Henry felt like walking on a gelatin mold in the middle of an earthquake, harder even as whatever portal that thing made to leave was actually draining the ink pooled and pulled him with it. but he needed to reach it, he needed to get back!

_Could he even get back to his body?_

It didn’t matter, it was taking him– was taking his body!

_Don’t leave, don’t go!_

_“Wait!”_ Henry managed to shout as he also reached the portal, but that thing wasn’t there any longer.

He looked around; nothing but inky darkness. He turned back, trying to return, but more darkness, not a clue from where he stepped in.

He started to breathe raggedly, although he couldn’t tell if he really needed it. Air or not, he needed to calm down, clear his mind, think _of a way to get out, to fix it, goddammit!_

_T̴r̸a̷p̵p̸e̵d̶.̶_

He turned around. Someone just... spoke? A whisper... Where did it come from?

_T̷r̷a̷p̶p̸e̵d̵.̵ ̸Y̶o̸u̵'̶r̶e̸ ̷t̶r̷a̶p̵p̷e̶d̷.̸_

Another voice. Another turn. Who was speaking?

_̴Y̴o̸u̷'̸r̴e̴ ̷t̵r̶a̴p̵p̵e̷d̵.̵ ̸Y̴o̴u̶'̷r̴e̸ ̶t̶r̶a̴p̶p̸e̴d̴.̷ ̵Y̶o̴u̸'̵r̵e̸ ̸t̷r̵a̴p̵p̴e̵d̴.̶_

Was it from above? From below? _Was he even standing somewhere?_

_̴Y̴o̸u̷'̸r̴e̴ ̷t̵r̶a̴p̵p̵e̷d̵.̵ ̸Y̴o̴u̶'̷r̴e̸ ̶t̶r̶a̴p̶p̸e̴d̴.̷ ̵_

_Y̶o̴u̸'̵r̵e̸ ̸t̷r̵a̴p̵p̴e̵d̴.̶ ̴Y̴o̸u̷'̸r̴e̴ ̷t̵r̶a̴p̵p̵e̷d̵.̵ ̸_

_Y̴o̴u̶'̷r̴e̸ ̶t̶r̶a̴p̶p̸e̴d̴.̷ ̵Y̶o̴u̸'̵r̵e̸ ̸t̷r̵a̴p̵p̴e̵d̴.̶_

It was more than a single voice. It came from more than one place. Henry felt surrounded. Where was he? Where could he go? Was he really trapped?

A yelp abandoned his mouth as he felt a tug on his side. Then another. Another tug aside. Something was grabbing him, it felt viscous and slippery, even cold he could add. A hand? Two hands? _How many hands were engulfing him?!_

He yanked with all of his strengths, fueled by sheer desperation. An arm up, then a leg.

_D̵o̸n̵'̵t̷ ̷g̵o̶.̶ ̴ D̵o̶n̸'̴t̶ ̶l̶e̵a̴v̸e̸!̴ ̵_

_J̶o̷i̶n̴ ̴u̸s̸.̴ ̷_ _S̶e̸t̸ ̷u̵s̴ ̸f̷r̷e̷e̷.̸ ̴_

_ S̷e̴t̷ ̷u̷s̴ ̸f̵r̷e̵e̵.̵ ̷ _

_S̴e̴t̷ ̸u̸s̵ ̴f̵r̵e̷e̸!̷ ̸_

I̷ ̵c̶a̴n̶'̷t̵!̸

He tried to clamp his ears; the voices were too overwhelming, they were _everywhere_ , even he could say that were inside his mind!

_Over there, a light!_

The voices kept whispering loudly. The hands kept grabbing him, hindering him. He started to crawl, smashing himself against the liquid nothingness. _He needed to get out!_

The light grew; Henry was getting close!

_Just kept pressing on!_

He reached it with a hand; it felt warmer. Candlelight?

_Get out, get out, get out!_

Henry broke through as if he was getting out of a pool, breaking surface tension and gasping as he needed air; reflect act from the similarity. Henry grasped the edge, inching his way out of that screaming well of voices. He felt his legs also out, and there he stood all in four until he plopped down against the floor; it felt solid.

Painfully slowly, he tilted his head to look from where he came out. Certainly he expected to be next some kind of dark, slithering void like the one he got into, but the place was spotless except for some lines painted here and there, edge surrounded by candles, and he was in the middle of it.

He raised his hand trying to see it. It was spotless also, but still was that blurry transparent which rims he barely could make out if it weren’t for he felt it as he wiggled his fingers.

His breaths were ragged, exhausted, even at the edge of crying. Could he even do that? Why he felt so tired? Why he felt like his head was pounding?!

But it didn’t matter anymore whatever question he had, as his eyelid felt heavier and heavier until the point he could no longer kept them open.

Huh, funny. With all the things that happened, he expected to be able to see through his eyelids. A little blessing, he didn’t.

~~~~~~~~~~


End file.
